Witchboard is a 2024 supernatural horror film written and directed by Chuck Russell. A remake of the 1986 film, it stars Madison Iseman, Aaron Dominguez, Melanie Jarnson, Charlie Tahan, Antonia Desplat, and Jamie Campbell Bower. Its plot follows a young couple opening a restaurant in New Orleans who come in contact with a spirit board created in 17th-century France by a powerful witch who was ousted from her village in the Lorraine province.
Development of Witchboard began in 2017, when Russell became attached to the project as director and writer, adapting the screenplay from Kevin Tenney's original film. Russell co-wrote the screenplay with Greg McKay, and based its period elements on actual historical events that occurred during the witch trials in France. An independent[7] co-production between the United States and Canada, Witchboard was shot on location in Montreal, Quebec and New Orleans, Louisiana in mid-2023.
Witchboard had its world premiere at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival on July 26, 2024, and was released in the United States on August 15, 2025. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some favorably describing it as stylistically reminiscent of the horror films of the 1980s and 1990s.[ii] It has grossed $500,798 at the box office.[9]
Plot
Emily, a recovering heroin addict, is helping to prepare for her fiancé Christian's opening of a restaurant in New Orleans's French Quarter in a renovated carriage house where they reside. While picking mushrooms in the forest, Emily comes across a historic spirit board which has recently been stolen from a local museum. At a dinner party, Emily shows the board to Christian's ex-girlfriend, Brooke, an academic and antiquities expert, who analyzes some of its symbols.
Emily discovers a pendulum made out of a human finger bone contained within the board's eye centerpiece. Believing that the board is allowing her to communicate with her own subconscious mind, Emily locates her lost engagement ring. Simultaneously, Christian's friend and employee, Richie, is killed in a violent kitchen accident in which his hand is dismembered by an electric meat slicer. Later, the board causes Emily's former drug dealer, Jessie, to fall from a rooftop to his death.
When Christian learns the board was stolen and that its thieves have since died, he suggests turning it into authorities, but Emily refuses, fearing she may be suspected due to her criminal record of drug possession. Emily begins experiencing visions of the board's creator, Naga Soth, a witch who was persecuted in 1690s France, condemned, and outcast from her village in the Lorraine province by Bishop Grogan, a witchhunter who secretly wished to utilize her occult powers himself. After her banishment, the powerful Naga Soth cursed the village, causing them to turn against each other and eventually kill one another.
Worried about Emily's declining mental state, Christian seeks assistance from Alexander Babtiste, a New Age pagan and acquaintance of Brooke. Alexander visits the couple and, during a session with the board, places Emily in a trance during which her soul is transferred back in time to Naga Soth, who comes to possess Emily's body in the present day. As Emily faces execution for Naga Soth's crimes, Naga Soth poisons the guests at Christian's restaurant opening with mushrooms that cause them to hallucinate and kill one another, recreating her past vengeance. Alexander, who is present at the dinner, absconds while Brooke narrowly saves Christian, who is pursued by police.
Brooke brings Christian to Alexander's lavish ancestral estate. It is revealed that Alexander is a descendant of Bishop Grogan and Emily a descendant of Naga Soth. Alexander seeks to control Naga Soth as his minion among his modern coven of witches, viewing it as a fulfillment of his ancestral lineage. Christian manages to kill several of the cultists and hurl the spirit board into a fireplace before being shot by Alexander. Meanwhile, Naga Soth, recalling Grogan's mistreatment of her, turns against Alexander. As the spirit board begins to burn, Naga Soth's soul is returned across time to her original body, only moments before her burning at the stake. Using her magic, Naga Soth keeps the fire at bay and taunts Grogan. Intent on carrying out the execution, Grogan attempts to decapitate Naga Soth, but she overpowers him and pulls him into the pyre, allowing them both to burn to death. Simultaneously, Alexander manages to save the board from the fireplace before Emily, her soul now restored to her physical body, shoots him to death. Emily consoles Christian as he dies of his wounds. After police descend on the scene, Alexander is placed in a body bag, only to open his eyes as the bag is zipped closed.
Some time later, Brooke visits the Vatican, where a Catholic priest offers her precious diamonds in exchange for the board. Before departing with Emily, the two hand over the bone pendulum. After they leave, the priest begins to communicate with the board before Naga Soth appears behind him.
Cast
Madison Iseman as Emily Aaron
Dominguez as Christian Melanie
Jarnson as Brooke
Charlie Tahan as Richie
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